The Nature of the Witch
by Arthurs Merlin
Summary: Lily Evans is starting to worry. After 7 years at Hogwarts she is finally discovering how dangerous the wizarding world really can be. Would a normal life be the answer?


Natural

Authors Note: I own the characters you don't recognise. All others belong to JKR as well as the main HP plots….: J 

Set in Seventh year Lily/James but there's a whole year to get through yet….!

'You don't know what you're talking about,'

'You don't see it? You have never seen the way she looks at you?' James said

'Please James I don't give a house elves bottom,' Sirius replied throwing his legs up onto the chair arm and tossing his back onto the other arm of it. He picked up a copy of Whizz Kidd and flicked through it aimlessly. James was stood leant against the fireplace.

'I sometimes wish you would go stick your head up a house elves bottom, because frankly it deserves to be there!' James said crossly. Sirius snorted.

'I don't know why you're getting so cross with me? I just don't fancy the girl,' Sirius explained simply. James looked into the fireplace, he had no idea why he was pursuing this argument but he was still doing it. He looked back at Sirius who was now paying very little attention to him anymore and even though he had flicked the pages of the magazine twenty times he was still intent on flicking.

'If you're so bothered,' Sirius said five minutes later 'about whom Lily fancies why not just ask her yourself? Or even better why don't you have a go at fancying her? Seeing as you are so desperate to get her together with someone,'

James said nothing. Sirius, looking at his friend began to grin rather ridiculously.

'So that's it is it? You like her?'

James sighed and getting cross with himself replied sharply

'I didn't say that did I?'

Sirius snorted. The common room door then opened rather quickly and in walked Lily and Mary talking fast (as girls do). She smiled at Sirius, he mutely smiled back and she waved a small hand at James before sweeping off up to her dormitory with Mary. James was still staring at the doorway.

Grinning, Sirius said following James eyeline.

'You didn't have to mate, you didn't have to'

Strange Things

It was almost Christmas and nearly every seventh year at Hogwarts was staying behind for their last ever Christmas celebration at Hogwarts. In all his time at Hogwarts James had never once spent Christmas here, he had always gone home for the holidays. But this year was different; his parents were working away for the whole season and wouldn't be home until James would have to depart back for school. So in earnest James had decided to make the best of what he had and stick it out at Hogwarts. (The other option had been a rather unpleasant Christmas spent with his mother's sister, Nancy and her appallingly badly behaved house elf Filtcher.) Sirius was also staying, but he stayed at Hogwarts for every holiday, he even once tried to get Professor Dumbledore to let him stay over summer but it didn't work.

So that was how on the last evening of the term all the seventh year Gryffindors found themselves needlessly trying to all huddle round the common room fire. It was a noisy affair with crackers going off, rockets shooting through the air and the common room Christmas tree bursting into song ever y five minutes with renditions of 'Good king Wenceslas '. Lily and Mary were in the corner next to the singing Christmas tree who was now entertaining a very drunk house elf with its impressions of singing. Lily was writing to her parents and Mary was playing a game of exploding snap.

'Lily,' Mary said, ponderingly. 'What do you think if I dyed my hair pink?' Lily looked up briefly from her letter and stared at her crazy friend. She eyed the piece of hair Mary had now begun twiddling with and replied

'Pink? Pink?'

'Aha,' Mary nodded, letting loose the piece of hair and shuffling her cards. She bit her lip nervously and blew the loose hair away from her face. 'I want a bit of a change, Reg says he loves me just as I am but I am in the mood for a change'

Lily sighed. She knew when Mary mentioned Reg it normally meant she wanted to talk about boys. Thus far it was her seventh year at Hogwarts and Lily had not yet managed to find a boyfriend. Although she had feelings for a boy, one in particular, one whom she was always arguing with in her fourth and fifth year, but recently in the last year had paid her very little attention. Looking over in his direction Lily thought about….

'Lily' Mary clicked her fingers again 'earth to Lily?'

'Sorry, pink hair?'

Mary sighed

'Where are you at?'

Lily smiled softly and shook her head

'Just thinking' and with a flourish she rolled out more of her parchment and continued to write.

James was now sat in the dormitory waiting for sleep to arrive but to his annoyance it never did. Sirius had tried to stay awake till Christmas morning but too much firewhisky had made him drowsy. Remus was staying with Ravenna in her room and Peter had quickly changed his mind and gone home for the holidays. So James found himself frustratingly lying awake thinking. It was then whom he was thinking of which startled him. His eyes suddenly began to droop and he found himself slipping into a sleep full of dreams…..

_Lily was lying on a couch and had her head tilted to one side, her beautiful dark red hair flowing down the armchair. She was sleeping, her lips were slightly parted and her skin a glowing white. James was bent next to her, watching her sleep. He held out his hand to touch her hair and she moved ever so slightly, and her lips parted into a warm smile. _

_'Hmmm Sirius is that you?'_

_James whispered back_

_'Its me, James'_

_Lily began to open her eyes and James gently pressed his lips against hers. And to his amazement she responded kissing him back. _

James woke quickly. That was a very strange thing, a strange thing indeed…..

Please R and R xxx


End file.
